Colony House Lights Up Charlotte

The Cannonballers Tour Hits The Underground

With the release of their full-length debut album, When I Was Younger, and its lead single “Silhouettes,” the indie-rock band Colony House took off at the speed of light. The song would become the most downloaded song on SiriusXM Alt Nation and the band would make its very first television appearance on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers. Since then, Colony House has established itself as a true veteran on the indie rock scene with carefully crafted, authentic songs and world-class musicianship. In early February, the band released its latest offering The Cannonballers, and headed out on the road to support the new record. Last night, The Cannonballers Tour made a stop right here in Charlotte bringing the up-and-comers in little image along for the ride.

The evening kicked off with the indie-pop rock vibes of little image. They may be relatively new to the scene but the trio has been together for eight years which results in an onstage chemistry that can not be denied. The three friends took the stage wearing matching black suit jackets adorned with lettering and quickly got into a rhythm. Lead vocalist and guitarist Jackson Simmons is quite the frontman as he tore all over the tiny stage at The Underground urging on the crowd and getting them involved early on.

Bassist Brandon Walters kept the bass lines thumping and also handled synth duties on various tunes. Behind the kit was the powerhouse drummer and showman Troy Bruner. The band is set to release their debut album, fittingly named Self-Titled, and their single “Out Of My Mind” has been garnering them plenty of positive attention. little image is definitely an act to keep on your radar. I suspect we will be hearing a lot more of them in the future.

After a short break, it was time for the main event. The crowd was amped as they awaited for the minute that Colony House would step out onto that stage. As the lights dimmed, fans erupted with an outpouring of love and emotion as the moment had finally arrived. Drummer Will Chapman’s kit was situated on a small riser at the rear of the stage above which hung a lighted sign for The Cannonballers Tour. Guitarist Scott Mills was low-key but kept those riffs coming all night long while bassist Parke Cottrell drove the pace. As the band dove into “Landlocked Surf Rock” off their latest album The Cannonballers, lead vocalist Caleb Chapman took his place at the center of the stage and we were off to the races.

It was clear early on that Colony House was on fire. The band sounded fantastic and the songs flowed seamlessly into a set list that comprised both new songs and fan favorites. In fact, the whole evening was a showcase for everything that makes Colony House stand out as the upper echelon of indie rock. Caleb’s vocals soared as he took us on a journey of ups and downs. We rocked and danced to fast-paced songs like “Silhouettes” and sang along in unison to “Don’t Give Up On Me.” Caleb took a moment to talk about the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and asked those who could do so to donate just five dollars to earthquake relief. The band has teamed up with Exist For Good and their Give Five campaign will last throughout the tour.

There were too many highlights to mention them all but I’ll delve into a few of them. An exquisite acoustic performance of “Moving Forward” brought little image back out for the final chorus as everyone stood in the center of the stage in a circle to finish it off. The heaviest moment of the evening occurred with the jamming “2:20” during which a lucky fan named Hunter was brought on stage to play the guitar which had everyone on their feet jamming along.

The band also did a nice little acoustic medley but by far the most touching moment of the evening was during “Looking for Some Light.” Much to the delight of the crowd, Caleb came down off the barricade and sang throughout the crowd as he made his way to a small, elevated riser at the rear of the venue. From that vantage point, he continued the song and picked up his photographer’s camera to take some video of the crowd before jogging back to the stage. It was one of those times when we all come together as one with the music and it was awesome.

Of course, the evening wasn’t quite over yet and Colony House would come back for a two-song encore with “Cannonballers” and “You Know It” capping off an evening of live music that not only created memories for us all but would leave us craving the next time we could all get together again.

The Cannonballers Tour is just getting started so you have plenty of time to snag your tickets and head out to enjoy a show!

Click Here For the Full Gallery of the Evening!

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